Talk Down Price of Venue?!?!

Most venues have minimum amounts of dollars they have to bring in on any given day. I don't know where you are, but in NJ? November is the new June. My group is as busy in November as we are in May and June. You might try March.....but honestly? If you don't book it, someone else will.

Did you ask about Sunday brunch?

Thank you Celia for the advice.

Yeah we thought about doing a Sunday...we just dont care for that idea. We will most likey just keep looking around.

I didn't have much luck with that and didn't bother trying. Most venues figure if they aren't in your price range they'll be in someone else's so getting a Saturday deal is going to be hard to do

If you aren't completely happy I suggest you keep looking. You don't want to book a place because you are under pressure but always keep your budget in mind.

You know, a great opening question to the venue would be. "What is your minimum billing for a Saturday night, Friday night, Sunday morning?" It really cuts to the chase. Whether you have 100 guests at 200.00 per, or 200 guests at 100 per, they make their nut. I know it sounds crass, but it certainly does cut down the chit chat; you know what they need to make and they know that it is or isn't in the budget.

If you're looking to book at a dead time of the year or three weeks from now, then you can call the shots, to a certain extent. Many venues have "value dates" that they release closer to the time of booking. That variety of anxiety may not suit you, but it can help with the budget.

The venue still has the same basic operating costs no matter the day of the week - staff to pay, food to buy, insurance, electricity, etc. I am now frequently getting inquiries on Fridays - which for me, personally, is more difficult than Saturdays or Sundays - so no discount here.

Now, if you selected a really off day in an off season, like a Tuesday morning in January, maybe the venue would throw in some extras for you or consider a discount. Or just straight up ask when there might be a chance at a lower price. Of course, if you choose a Tuesday morning, you may not have many guests able to come. So maybe, cut the guest list to make it more affordable for your preferred Friday or Saturday.

But as Celia says, there is definitely a minimum billing amount, and that's the magic number you have to know.

I recently planned a corporate event for 225 - the minimum food charge needed to be $18,000, and the "rooms" became free, along with a conference room for the event, two lactation rooms (hotel rooms) and an executive suite for our keynote speaker.

Best wishes to you!

You guys rock!!! Thank you

Most seem to be pretty set, but there could be EXTRAS that you can negotiate into the price...our venue charges extra for a cheese/veggie display during cocktail hour but we were able to talk the venue coordinator into including that saving us around $500

I did a Sunday wedding and the venue rental ended up being about half the cost of a Saturday wedding. That may work out for you if you can find a decent Sunday that wouldn't put too many people out. For us, we're doing the Sunday before Christmas since all of the family will be in the area anyway and most guests have the whole week off.

You can ask if they have any sort of promotions or discounts that they offer... or bundled packages too. With our venue, they knocked off some just for showing up at their booth at a bridal show, even after we booked. I know my venue also gives you discounts for working with certain other vendors (photographers, florist, etc), so while you might not actually get the venue any cheaper, you might be able to save somewhere else. All we did was ask and they were very helpful.